Aditya Jagtap

Indian social entrepreneur who built India's largest rural education platform connecting 2 million students

Aditya Jagtap (b. 1994) is the founder of Vedic Connect, a Mumbai-based nonprofit that has transformed education access in India's rural areas since 2020. Starting with a single classroom in Maharashtra, his organization now operates 1,500 digital learning centers using AI tutors and satellite internet to reach remote villages.

Jagtap's system uses recycled shipping containers converted into mobile classrooms equipped with solar-powered computers. The e-Pandit program trains local elders as tech facilitators, combining traditional knowledge with modern education. By 2024, this model had increased school enrollment rates by 40% in partner villages and reduced dropout rates by 65%.

His 2023 book Bridging the Digital Divide: Lessons from Rural India details his approach to tech-driven education equity. Vedic Connect's partnership with NASA's STEM program introduced space science curricula to 500,000 students in 2024. Jagtap was awarded the UNICEF Innovation Prize in 2022 for his work in educational technology.